http://www.choike.org a portal on Southern civil societies http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/496.html The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity recognized the unique risks that genetically engineered organisms pose to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity when they adopted the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. A necessary component of a global biosafety regime is rules and procedures on liability and redress. The Fourth Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is set to conclude negotiations on liability and redress when it meets in Bonn, 12-16 May. http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/6453.html Certification alone cannot guarantee that agrofuels are being produced sustainably. Creating sustainable levels of demand is the only way of guaranteeing sustainable production. The discussion of biofuels in South America may be helpful in the African context. Attempts to use certification schemes to reduce widespread environmental and social problems caused by growing crops for fuels and animal feed are bound to fail, according to a new report released today by Friends of the Earth groups. http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1283.html In January 2005 the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Sudan ended Africa’s longest civil war. But the peace is fragile and doesn’t encompass the entire country. Politically, the country remains divided and violence is still part of daily life in many areas, foremost in Darfur, but also in Kordofan. Deadly incidents continue to occur regularly in the South. Oil is a principal factor in Sudanese politics. It is the government’s main source of income and the oil sector is driving economic growth. Meanwhile, the oil industry is poorly managed and highly politicized. Rather than contributing to an environment of peace and equitable development, it remains a source of strife and division. http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/268.html The World Bank is holding a key two-day meeting in Washington DC (14-15 April 2008) to move forward plans to establish its proposed portfolio of climate investment funds (CIFs). The Washington meeting is expected to be followed by another session in May, with approval for establishment of the new funds by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors expected in early July in time for the G8 summit in Japan in July. Environmental NGOs are concerned that the World Bank’s proposed initiatives divert funds away from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process and Kyoto Protocol leaving the majority of developing countries out of the negotiations. http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/693.html In a new report tracking genetically modified contamination worldwide, Greenpeace International and GeneWatch found 39 new instances of crop contamination in 23 countries over the past year. Most of the contamination incidences involved staple crops such as rice and maize, but also included soy, cotton, canola, papaya and fish. The ‘next generation’ of GM crops, designed to produce drugs or industrial products such as plastics, are now being widely grown in experimental trials, with possible serious implications for human health should they contaminate the food chain.